This is the time, for I am with the girl who’s very special to me. I was surprised, that she didn’t decline my favor of meeting me on a fine weekend. She was earlier than I am, despite me arriving at the meet-ing place 15 minutes before the agreed time. I was in a hurry, when I saw her face, dazzling, outshining the rays of the sun. She was alone between towering heights of the concrete arches. Then she looked back at me as she notices my presence, and it was magic. It took my breath away, just when I’m pant-ing from running. And then she spoke, a mild greeting …

“Good Morning”. Then she smiled.

Yes, it is a good morning, for I’m being filled with bliss. I approached her, as my heart beats faster and faster, and my feet feels colder, I’m starting to show signs of shyness. I’m trying to keep my gift for her behind my back. In front of her I blushed, while trying to get my composure and tell her to come with me to the garden nearest to the church, the Garden of Eros. She stared back at me with her beautiful eyes, and said…

“OK, let’s go then.”

Side by side we walk towards the garden…along the path famous to lovers. The Garden of Eros is very beautiful. Lush green leaves and colorful flowers surround the place, leaving an aroma that frees the soul. The sound of water in the pond gives a peaceful ambiance on that quiet morning. Birds sing, and the wind dances. We found ourselves under a garden shelter, as its shade cools the both of us. Then she asked, with sheer curiosity on her face…

“Is it alright if I ask what you are hiding behind your back?”

It seems she already noticed. If so, then this is the perfect moment. I’m a bit nervous, but at ease as well. From my right hand, I gave her a long stemmed rose. She was surprised, her eyes widen as she look into mine. She was speechless, but her red cheeks tell me another story. Her expression is just so cute; no rose around her can match. I blush as well, as if time stopped for the two us on the garden. I don’t know if she likes the rose or not, so I’m hesitant to give her my special gift. The place has sud-denly become calm, as we stare at each other. Should I tell her or should I not…to tell her…

You know what, a lot of my works need some retouchingbut sadly I can't. Most of my raw layered files were lostdue to our computer's recent drive expiration...and itincludes this file...Despite you great advice, it shouldleave it as that for now, until I recover my files...

Still, thanks for you concern, I think you are rightwith your correction...I hope you would continueyour support for my art even if it's imperfect hehe....

*hushhhhh....you are starting to uncover the secrets of my works....(^_^)

you think so?...heh....to tell you the truth, I have a rotten love life heh....but I still find a way to come up with a story....I wonder why?

Painstaking..you can say that again...I'm a pseudo-painter....so like a blind person, I stumble and fall many times in the process of creation...I don't have the natural sense to know what color goes with what...so it takes time to get it right..(If it's right)....it even takes a month if it's challenging enough...the easy ones takes about a week or less....(^_^)

yeah, I agree with you, I'm not loved, so I long for an ideal love, a warm feeling....and that is manifested through my works....you solved another puzzle...hooray...

Pseudo painter...its in my "Personal Dictionary" together with "Wimpanbollistic"...joking aside...what I meant is "Fake painter".....Real painters don't need many layers, they have natural instinct of lighting, what colors to use, strokes...etc....unfortunately, can't...so I simply improvise to at least be at par with the Real one....and it eats time....sadly.....so it's hard to make those paintings I create...

But you are still young, you have so much potential to improve and surpass those before you. unlike me, I'm already 23, yet my art is that of a 16 y.o. level. thus I wanna improve to the level equal to my age.

Thank you, but I still have to work on many areas where I failed here...color harmony, vibrancy,blending, tonal value, details-especially the leaves, perception and texture....(^_^)...but with your pointers a while ago will help me a lot to improve, next time it will be better

What a sweet and romantic story. Your style for the people looks a little different in this one -- did you outline with a lighter tone of brown? I love the background, especially the shimmering pool of water. It is very lovely...

I do have inconsistent art style don't I...but that's because I have many art styles...using the appropriate style on a certain piece to justify it...I diw color the lineart brown..but that's already a lazy mans' effort, for a complicated lineart separate "elements" by layers, you know, a layer for the hair lineart and a different layer for the skin lineart...having multiple lineart layers so you can color them differently instead of just one color...

Thanks...I am studying nature x structure...so you'll be seeing more water next time..(^_^)

Hmm do you use Photoshop? What I do with the outlines is I make one separate layer for the outline. I click the channels button and delete all the pixels that are not the lineart. Then I lock transparent pixels. By doing this I can color only the lineart on this layer, so I can use multiple colors on the one lineart. It makes it easier, for me.

Nope, I use pure SAI, I use Photoshop when I need to lay out straight lines.

I am lazy configuring my brushes on photoshop so the strokes will look smooth.....I do lock linearts to color them, but that channels technique I don't know about...is it used to convert traditional scanned lines to digital lines?